Easter Devotional - Day 1: Start With The Gospel

I confess that I have more trouble getting ready for Easter than any other special day in the life of the church. Why is that? I have concluded that I have trouble getting ready for Easter because it is so big. There is no day any bigger. Jesus rose from the grave! That's BIG. Instead of celebrating, I just feel inadequate. I do not feel like I think I should feel going into something this big. I feel ashamed of not feeling like I ought to feel going into Easter. So, a few years ago, I began to pray over that. These devotionals are the outgrowth of that prayer and study. My hope is that they will be of help to others who struggle with how they feel going into Easter.

So here is the question; where do we start? Well, there really is only one place to begin and that is with the Gospel. What is the Gospel? “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…”  (1Cor. 15:3–4)

Do you believe the Gospel? It is of first importance. Why? Because Christ gave His life; because my sin made it necessary; because scripture foretold it; because Jesus overcame death to finalize it. Therefore, the Gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16) So let’s start there. Let’s start with simply going to God confessing our belief in His gospel.